What did they use to make matresses from in medieval and victorian times?

Question:

What did they use to make matresses from in medieval and victorian times?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: It depended on their wealth and where they lived. In England they used straw or, if rich enough, goose feathers [never chicken- chicken feathers will set off anybody's allergies]). In America they used what they had.

In Savannah/Charleston/New Orleans a common thing to use was Spanish Moss. Unfortunately it contains lots of insects ("chiggers"), so if possible they'd boil it and let it dry again, though that doesn't help as much as it sounds.

Slaves and poor farmers often used dried corn husks.

Things that would almost never have been used for mattresses in America would have been:

pine-straw (too sharp)

hay (too needed for horses)

grass (too many are allergic to it)

cotton (absorbs moisture, so one hot sweaty humid night and it's ruined, plut cotton sold for $1+ pound just before the Civil War)